harry potter - Did J.K Rowling have the 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' anagram set up from the start?

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I was fascinated by the scene where the words 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' change into 'I am Lord Voldemort' in the air.

I was wondering, did J.K. Rowling plan it when she gave Voldemort his name in the first book? Or did she come up with it after already knowing his name?

Answer

It's difficult to say without Rowling herself weighing in, but it's not all that hard to come up with this kind of anagram from just about any villainous name you like. Note that not only is she adding "I am" to make it come out nicer, but she's also using the totally made-up middle name "Marvolo."

For example, if she'd decided to write about the obstructionist villain "Filibuster", she could have had him declare that

LIAM FIDULI ROBERTS

is an anagram of

I AM LORD FILIBUSTER

Or if she'd gone with the Diceware-inspired villain "Lop-Farm",

SIMON MEGMAPART FARLEY

might have become

MY NAME IS GREAT LOP-FARM

Note that most of the translations of Harry Potter into European languages didn't have to change "Voldemort" in order to make the anagram come out right.

Comments

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